by Douglas Tonge, Rail Supplies Direct Publisher
January 2008

Britain’s rail network has now emerged from the condition it was in twenty or thirty years ago to become, over the last ten years, the fastest growing network in Europe. Passenger numbers have now risen to 1.15bn, the highest level since the peak year of 1946. Punctuality is also improving. Every day nearly 20,000 passenger trains run in Britain with an average over the past twelve months of nearly 90% on time. Freight use is also increasing: up more than 50% in the last ten years.
If anything points to the resurgence of our rail network, it must surely be the opening of St. Pancras International station after a £800 million refurbishment programme.
Her Majesty the Queen said when she officially unveiled St. Pancras that it was “magnificent’, and hoped people would consider it as not just a station but as “a destination”.
St. Pancras International has been called the 'jewel in the crown' of the much larger High Speed 1 project, which has taken 11 years to complete at a cost of £5.8bn. It was the largest construction project in UK history and the first  major rail project in the UK for more than 100 years.
The finished result will be new international train stations  at Stratford and Ebbsfleet, as well as the re-developed St. Pancras. A vital part of the project has been the laying of 109km of new track that has connected, for the first time, Britain to Europe’s high speed rail network resulting in much quicker journey times from London to major cities on the continent.
Now rail travel is becoming increasingly popular, the challenge is to cope with the rapidly growing  passenger numbers and deliver a quality rail service at  an affordable price.